Kemerovo is an amalgamation of, and successor to, several older Russian settlements. A waypoint named Verkhotomsky ostrog was established nearby in 1657 on a road from Tomsk to Kuznetsk fortress. In 1701, the settlement of Shcheglovo was founded on the left bank of the Tom; soon it became a village. By 1859, seven villages existed where modern Kemerovo is now: Shcheglovka (or Ust-Iskitimskoye), Kemerovo (named in 1734), Yevseyevo, Krasny Yar, Kur-Iskitim (Pleshki), Davydovo (Ishanovo), and Borovaya. In 1721, coal was discovered in the area. The first coal mines were established in 1907, later a chemical plant was established in 1916. By 1917, the population of Shcheglovo had grown to around 4,000 people.

The area's further development was boosted by the construction a railway between Yurga and Kolchugino (now Leninsk-Kuznetsky) with a connection between Topki and Shcheglovo. Shcheglovo was granted town status in 1918, which is now considered to be the date of Kemerovo's founding.[citation needed] In 1932, Shcheglovsk was renamed Kemerovo and became the administrative center of Kemerovo Oblast in 1943.

The industrialisation of Kemerovo was driven and underpinned by coal mining and by the heavy industry based on the availability of coal. It remains an important industrial city, built up during the Soviet period, with important steel, aluminum and machinery based manufacturing plants along with chemical, fertilizer, and other manufacturing industries. Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the city's industries have experienced a severe decline, creating high levels of unemployment. Major companies based in the city include Siberian Business Union.

The public interest for bandy is widespread in Russia. 26,000 watched the opening game of the 2011-2012 Russian Bandy League against Dynamo Moscow[1] and Kuzbass is among the very best in the Russian Bandy League.[9] The 2007 Bandy World Championship was held in the city.[2] Female bandy only exists in a few places in Russia. Now Kemerovo is about to start it up.[10][11] Moscow already had two multi-use indoor arenas where bandy can be played. Kemerovo got the first one in Russia specifically built for bandy (today also Khabarovsk and Ulyanovsk have it).[3] Kuzbass plays the matches in the league at Khimik Stadium because of the big public interest. That arena has a capacity of 32000.[4]

Since 2013 there has been a "bandy on boots" tournament for national diasporas living in Kuzbass.[5]

Kemerovo's position gives it a humid continental climate (KöppenDfb) with average temperatures varying between −17 °C (1 °F) in January to +19 °C (66 °F) in July and relatively low precipitation of around 500 millimeters (20 in) annually.

^ abcdef"УСТАВ ГОРОДА КЕМЕРОВО" [Charter of the city of Kemerovo], город хороших новостей Кемерово: официальный сайт администрации города [the city of good news Kemerovo, official site of the city administration], 30 Nov. 2012, acc. 17 June 2014, http://www.kemerovo.ru/gorod/ustav.html.